Local pain clinic opens

THE Hawkesbury will be home to one of just two pain clinics in western Sydney, following a move by local doctor Ravi Sahasrabuddhe and colleague Romil Jain.

The pain clinic will operate out of the rooms at Macquarie Towns Specialist Centre in Richmond and treat patients suffering acute and chronic pain.

Dr Jain, a pain specialist, currently works out of the only existing pain centre in western Sydney at the Nepean Hospital and said opening the clinic in Richmond was a ‘breakthrough’.

“The treatment of pain is a basic human right, everyone should have access to pain assessment and treatment,” Dr Jain said.

“There is a great need for facilities such as this across Sydney and the state.”

Dr Jain and Dr Sahasrabuddhe have been working for six months to get the clinic off the ground, and currently the service will be available to patients for one day a week, with room for expansion in the future.

The clinic will treat patients with differing causes of pain from neck and back pain to reoccurring pain from injury.

The clinic will assess the patient’s pain, and treat it holistically through therapies such as physio, psychological and occupational.

Doctor Jain will also have the ability to surgically treat pain patients at Hawkesbury Hospital as private patients, with the hope that state government funding in the future will cover public patients also.

“Two thirds of people suffering pain develop anxiety or depression, we want to change the way they think through cognitive therapy provided by a psychologist,” Dr Sahasrabuddhe said.

“We want to provide affordable treatment to these patients and also offer a service to those in nursing homes.”

The clinic is taking patients now. To book an appointment contact Macquarie Towns Specialist Centre in Richmond, 4588 5636.